Upcoming Classes in the Research Administration Training Series (RATS)

Research News & Publicizing Research

1. Achieving Broader Impacts in Research – A symposium on March 31

What are broader impacts and why should scientists care? Have you ever submitted a great research proposal that promises high value to society but it has been rejected? One possible reason might be that it doesn’t provide enough information about how society will benefit from your research, specifically underserved and diverse communities. This is where broader impacts enter.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and other federal research agencies are increasingly emphasizing the need to justify not only the “intellectual merit” of proposed research, but also its “broader impacts.” The latter refers to the potential of the proposed project to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes.

The “Reflecting and Expanding on Our Broader Impact” forum was developed as a collaboration between iUTAH EPSCoR and the University of Utah’s Office of the Vice President for Research to address this topic. The event takes place on Friday, March 31, and is free and open to faculty, students other research and education practitioners from across the state. Morning session, including keynotes and panel discussion, starts at 8:30 a.m. at the University of Utah, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Education Buildings, Salt Lake City.

The forum is fortunate to have the National Alliance for Broader Impacts (NABI) chair, Susan Renoe, an adjunct professor of Anthropology and director of the Broader Impacts Network at the University of Missouri, as a keynote speaker presenting on Broader Impacts For Engaged Scholarship. NABI is a national network of universities, professional societies and informal science organizations, which offers an excellent overview of broader impacts. In a second keynote, Chinweike Eseonu, assistant professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Oregon State University, will share lessons learned from Implementing A Community-Engaged Research Program.

We invite students, faculty and researchers to attend and promise that you will walk away with a better understanding of broader impacts and how they affect your funding.

This year the University of Utah will again be participating in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Great Colleges to Work For” program, a study designed to recognize institutions that have built great workplaces. Part of the program involves an employee survey distributed to a sample of each institution’s full-time faculty, administrators, exempt and non-exempt staff.

This survey was designed specifically for higher education. On March 21, 2017, this survey will open and be distributed to a random selection of our employees. Those that are included in this random sample of employees will receive an email invitation encouraging them to take part. Please encourage your employees that receive the email to take a moment to complete the survey. They will be representing themselves, and also their colleagues.

The results of the survey will be factored into the overall scoring process that will ultimately determine the institution that will be recognized. After The Chronicle publishes the findings this July, our institution will receive a report that summarizes responses to the survey questions.

This will be a confidential survey that measures the strength of certain organizational competencies and relationships that most directly impact and influence an institution’s culture. Your employees’ participation and honest feedback are critical to the assessment process. To ensure the confidentiality of responses, the survey will be processed by ModernThink LLC, a research and consulting firm focusing on workplace excellence. Our institution will not be given any information that would enable us to trace survey data back to any one individual.

We encourage everyone’s participation. A high response rate helps ensure accurate results and demonstrates the commitment of our workforce. Thank you, in advance, for your help with participation.

The “Reflecting and Expanding on Our Broader Impact” forum was developed in collaboration by iUTAH EPSCoR and the University of Utah’s Office of the Vice President for Research. The event is open to faculty, students, and other research and education practitioners looking for practical advice on incorporating broader impacts into their work.. The iUTAH water project has built a research, education, and training cooperative that has engaged over 500 participants from all 10 institutions of higher education in the state and over 80 partner organizations in Utah and beyond. Individuals from across the state are invited to participate and explore potential partnerships with colleagues from the academic, government, industry, and non-profit sectors to advance societally relevant science for the citizens of Utah

The morning will include a series of keynotes and panel discussion from nationally renowned speakers and local practitioners addressing engaged scholarship and the implementation of NSF’s Broader Impacts criterion. Afternoon workshops will be led by many of the morning speakers, and will offer targeted advice, in small group sessions to help you advance your own scientific enterprise and make it more productive and, hopefully, rewarding.

Thanks to the Office of the Vice President for Research , the University now has a site license for Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELN) from LabArchives. If you have been holding back on implementing LabArchives into your research team’s workflow, now is the time to investigate LabArchives. Lab Archives allows you to enter and store data and files of all kinds in person or remotely, maintain versioning of documents, share information with you team remotely, and more.

If you are interested in attending a class about LabArchives, there will be two Special Events provided by RATS. During each session we will introduce you to ELNs and Labarchives. We will discuss and demonstrate the features of LabArchives and how to set up your account to suit your research team – so don’t forget to bring your laptop. Don’t forget to register by clicking on the dates above.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has seen an increase in research that broadly impacts society and diverse communities. Due to the important initiative of this research, the Broader Impacts for NSF Career Awards workshop was developed to help researchers incorporate broader impacts into their grant NSF CAREER grant proposal. Hosted by iUTAH EPSCoR and the Office of the Vice President for Research, please join us for a two-hour workshop on advice and tips on writing a grant proposal that explains how your research will benefit society.

The registration deadline has been extended to March 13. Please click here to register.

NSF CAREER Grant Writing Workshop

May 10 at 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Location: Eccles Board Room (1850 WEB)

The College of Engineering, The College of Science, and the VP for Research office are jointly sponsoring an NSF CAREER Grant Writing Workshop. Any faculty on campus planning to submit an NSF CAREER grant for the July 2017 deadlines are welcome to join us for these workshops.

Preservation Assistance Grants help small and mid-sized institutions—such as libraries, museums, historical societies, archival repositories, cultural organizations, town and county records offices, and colleges and universities—improve their ability to preserve and care for their significant humanities collections.

Creativity Connects* is an initiative that shows how the arts contribute to the nation’s creative ecosystem, investigates how support systems for the arts are changing, explores how the arts can connect with other sectors that want and utilize creativity, and invests in innovative projects to spark new, collaborative ideas. A key component of Creativity Connects is a grant opportunity in the Art Works category that supports collaborative, mutually beneficial partnerships between the arts and non-arts sectors.

8. Intramural Funding Opportunities

2017 Pilot Grant Program Request for Proposals

Deadline: March 17, 2017

The Center on Aging sponsors an annual pilot grant program to promote the development of aging research at the University of Utah. The goal of this program is to encourage new investigator career development, attract established investigators to aging research, and stimulate interdisciplinary research collaborations – ultimately leading to new externally funded research. If you would like additional information regarding the program, please visit the Center on Aging website.

Occupational Safety and Health Pilot/Small Research Projects

Application Deadline: May 8, 2017

The purpose of this program is to enhance worksite-based occupational safety and health (OSH) and builds on the NIOSH “National Occupational Research Agenda” (NORA). The goals of the pilot/small research program are to improve workplace OSH, reduce the burden of workplace injuries, improve health, and lower workers’ compensation costs. Novel ideas as well as collaborative, interdisciplinary projects are encouraged.

9. Extramural Funding Opportunities

DoD Precision Trauma Care Research Award

Pre-application Submission Deadline (required): March 17, 2017

The intent of the Precision Trauma Care Research Award (PTCRA) is to support research applying precision medicine concepts to trauma care. In order to improve the care of combat casualties, the JPC-6/CCCRP requires capabilities to more accurately diagnose and treat injuries. In general, the field of trauma care progresses as empirical evidence accumulates. Accumulated evidence supports the reduction of unwarranted practice variability (e.g., protocol-driven care).

NASA’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) seeks reviewers

Proposal Assignments Posted: March 23, 2017

Deadline for Reviews: April 17, 2017

Would you be interested in serving as a reviewer of a NASA proposal? Detailed information regarding NASA EPSCoR proposal requirements and evaluation criteria are contained in the solicitation posted on NSPIRES.

Please view the solicitation to determine your interest in serving as an EPSCoR peer reviewer. If interested in reviewing, please register in NSPIRES and remember to respond via email as well.

It is anticipated that reviewers will be asked to review one proposal of approximately 20 pages in length. Additional proposals may be assigned if you request them.

Non-civil servants receive an honorarium of $100 for the first proposal reviewed and $50 for each additional proposal fully reviewed and submitted online to NSPIRES by the close of the review period. All proposal assignments will be posted on NSPIRES by March 23, 2017 and your reviews must be submitted electronically via NSPIRES by April 17, 2017.

EPSCoR Background: NASA EPSCoR is a congressionally mandated grant program designed to strengthen the research capabilities of states that have not in the past participated equably in competitive aerospace and aerospace-related research activities. EPSCoR provides the 27 eligible states with funding to develop a more competitive research base within their state and member academic institutions.

Each funded NASA EPSCoR proposal (award) is expected to conduct research that will make a significant contribution to the strategic research and technology development priorities of one or more of NASA’s Mission Directorates (Aeronautics Research, Human Exploration and Operations, Space Technology, and Science). Each award is also expected to contribute to the overall research infrastructure, science and technology development capabilities, higher education, and economic development of the state.

USTAR Grants

Science and Technology Initiation Grants (STIG)

Deadline: Rolling

Science and Technology Initiation Grants (STIG) provide research funding to individual or teams of researchers from universities or colleges in Utah that eventually leads to the submission of proposals for larger federal grants, or private funding. Collaboration between researchers of different backgrounds, and institutions, is highly recommended. The program will fund technologies in the early development stages ranging from, basic observation to proof of concept.

Questions regarding the Science and Technology Initiation Grant must be submitted in writing via email, inquiries made via phone or other method will not be accepted.

Industry Partnership Program (IPP)

Deadline: Rolling

Driven by industry demand, the Industry Partnership Program (IPP) promotes the development, acceleration and commercialization of innovative technologies by teaming industry and university research expertise to address specific technology problems or gaps identified by a company. The program is open to companies that have a substantial presence in Utah and have identified a specific technology challenge that, if solved, would result in a positive economic impact for the state.

Questions regarding the Industry Partnership Program must be submitted in writing via email. Inquiries made via phone or other method will not be accepted.

The BIGDATA program seeks novel approaches in computer science, statistics, computational science, and mathematics, along with innovative applications in domain science, including social and behavioral sciences, education, biology, the physical sciences, and engineering that lead towards the further development of the interdisciplinary field of data science.

Dear Colleague Letter: Request for Information on Future Needs for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure to Support Science and Engineering Research (NSF CI 2030)

RFI Contributions Deadline: April 5, 2017 by 5 p.m. EST

In this Dear Colleague Letter: Request for Information (RFI), NSF encourages community input to inform the Foundation’s strategy and plans for an advanced cyberinfrastructure that will enable the frontiers of science and engineering to continue to advance over the next decade and beyond (NSF CI 2030). This whole-of-NSF activity recognizes that researchers in different disciplines may need different resources; may have differing priorities for access, interoperability, and continuity; and may require external expertise to address the most critical problems in their discipline. We therefore strongly encourage researchers in all fields of science, engineering and education to respond to this Request for Information.

NSF invites both individuals and groups of individuals to provide input on the specific scientific and engineering research challenges that require advanced cyberinfrastructure for their solutions.

DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program

Deadline: May 16, 2017, at 5 p.m.EST

The goal of the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is to prepare graduate students for science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission, by providing graduate thesis research opportunities at DOE laboratories. The SCGSR program provides supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to pursue part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE laboratory in areas that address scientific challenges central to the Office of Science mission.

The Office of Science expects to make approximately 50 awards in 2017 Solicitation 1, for project periods beginning anytime between October 30, 2017 and February 28, 2018.

Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS) (RM1)

Deadline: May 23, 2017

The Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS) program establishes academic Centers for advanced genome research. Each CEGS grant supports a multi-investigator, interdisciplinary team to develop innovative genomic approaches to address a particular biomedical problem. A CEGS project will address a critical issue in genomic science or genomic medicine, proposing a solution that would be a very substantial advance.

With this Dear Colleague Letter, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing its intention to build upon the success of previous Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGERs) in the areas supported by the Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program and to encourage the submission of additional EAGER proposals that foster novel interdisciplinary research carried out in new collaborations between one or more Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) researchers and one or more Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) researchers.

NSF leads federal effort to boost advanced wireless research

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it will invest more than $400 million over the next seven years to support fundamental wireless research and to develop platforms for advanced wireless research in support of the White House’s Advanced Wireless Research Initiative. These investments will support the research community in experimenting with and testing novel technologies, applications and services capable of making wireless communication faster, smarter, more responsive and more robust.

10. Upcoming Classes in the Research Administration Training Series (RATS)

Registration for the May 5-7, 2017, Grant Writing Academy (GWA) is now available. For information please visit the Research Education website or contact Tony Onofrietti, director, research education.

The mission of the Research Administrators’ Network (RAN) is to provide a forum for colleagues to share ideas and to offer general peer support and guidance for the benefit of the University research community. The RAN further promotes opportunities for networking and potential research collaborations.

Interested in the cool research going on at the U? For the latest news on research, go to news. If you are interested in publicizing your research, guidelines and information on how-to, along with contact information, may be found at: Publicizing Research and Working with the Media.

Stay Connected with the Office of the Vice President for Research

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